Built on belief.
Designed for what comes next.

How Ventura Graphic Design brought warmth, clarity, and momentum to Promise Venture Studio’s Impact Report — helping funders see both the impact achieved and the promise ahead.

How it started

Promise Venture Studio works at the intersection of early childhood development, equity, and venture philanthropy — investing in leaders and ideas that ensure every child can fulfill their innate promise, regardless of zip code, background, or circumstance. Promise has built a national network of more than 760 early childhood ventures, supporting equity-driven innovators through programs, content, and connective infrastructure.

The 2023–25 Impact Report was developed to capture this work at a pivotal moment. Writer Julie Petersen was brought on to lead the narrative, focused on documenting the final outcomes of Promise’s current strategic plan while also previewing what’s ahead. Having known each other for many years, Julie recommended Ventura Graphic Design to design the report.

The report needed to speak to a broader group of current and prospective foundation funders — many of whom shared similar questions about Promise’s role, value, and future direction. The result was a highly collaborative, detail-driven process that balanced dense content, significant data, and multiple stakeholder inputs — all within a tight review cycle.

“Libby is a creative, responsive, flexible, and patient collaborator who manages to balance thoughtful design expertise with truly listening to client needs.”

Julie Petersen, Writer

Project goal

To clearly articulate Promise Venture Studio’s unique value at a critical inflection point — demonstrating how its programs and networks accelerate the impact of equity-driven early childhood ventures, unite BIPOC and proximate innovators, and connect leaders to capital and customers.

Beyond documenting outcomes from the 2023–25 strategic plan, the report needed to “set the table” for what comes next — positioning Promise as a trusted, effective platform for continued and expanded investment.

The challenge

Designing for clarity in a text-heavy report
The previous report leaned heavily on text and photos, with just 1 graphic and 1 chart. The challenge was to better represent Promise’s scale and reach — including a national network of hundreds of ventures — through clear, visual storytelling.

Making complex systems feel human
Promise’s work centers people — supporting equity-driven early childhood innovators through programs, content, and networks that help leaders grow, connect, and access the resources they need to thrive. The design needed to help funders quickly grasp how these pieces fit together — and why they matter for early childhood outcomes.

Balancing collaboration with content ownership
There was a lot of content and Promise wanted to include all of it (!), so design decisions required careful coordination — finding ways to suggest trims, hierarchy, and visual emphasis without disrupting authorship or intent.

Supporting multiple audiences with one report
While a key funder drove the deadline, the report also needed to resonate with a wider foundation audience — from existing partners to prospective funders newly encountering Promise’s model.

The process

Iterative design checkpoints

Rather than waiting for full drafts, VGD shared individual page layouts early to show how content would live on the page — helping the team understand where cuts were needed and accelerating decision-making.

Visual systems for complex work

A bold, colorful palette and color-coding system were used to distinguish Promise’s three core strands of work — accelerating ventures, building collective power among BIPOC innovators, and connecting leaders to capital and customers.

Custom data and iconography

Low-resolution legacy graphics were rebuilt as clean vector illustrations, and a cohesive icon system was introduced to support dense text and improve scanability across sections.

Thoughtful digital integration

Videos and QR codes were incorporated to extend storytelling beyond the page and allow readers to engage more deeply with Promise’s leaders and ventures.

“Working with Libby was a genuinely positive experience. She’s a kind, thoughtful collaborator who listens carefully, responds quickly to feedback, and makes revisions feel easy and productive. The process felt smooth, respectful, and very well managed from start to finish.”

Laura Patterson, Associate Partner, Promise Venture Studio

Outcomes and impact

Promise Venture Studio now has its strongest-designed impact report to date — a polished, brand-aligned piece that clearly communicates both what they do and why it works. The report has been shared with nearly all current and prospective funders, supporting reinvestment conversations and helping funders understand Promise’s role in strengthening the early childhood ecosystem nationwide.

Winner of a 2025 GDUSA American Graphic Design Award.

“The final impact report was the strongest we’ve produced to date. It was beautifully designed, highly brand-aligned, and clearly communicated our impact and direction. We shared it widely with current and prospective funders and received consistently positive feedback.”